TeamTalk taps Cameron Partners for strategic review

NZX listed telco, TeamTalk (NZX: TTK) has engaged investment banking advisors, Cameron Partners, to work with both its board and incoming CEO, Andrew Miller, to assist with a review of its strategy and the evaluation of options.

TeamTalk chairman, Roger Sowry, said: “It is the right time to bring in the capabilities of Cameron Partners who can assist our new chief executive with one of his top priorities which is a deep strategic review of the business.”

TeamTalk says it aims to be the ‘best little telco’ in New Zealand. It is the parent company of rural ISP Farmside, CityLink fibre & TeamTalk Mobile Radio.

The company announced in July the appointment of Miller, a former CEO and managing director of Alcatel-Lucent NZ & Pacific Islands who is currently the commercial business general manager at Callaghan Innovation. He will take up the role in early September.

Commenting on his appointment, Miller foreshadowed a review, saying: “We need to reshape the organisation for future success including looking at potential partnerships where we can leverage our assets to deliver better outcomes for both our customers and shareholders. TeamTalk has been around for over 20 years and I believe it’s got an exciting future with many new opportunities.”

Miller replaced David Ware who founded the company in 1994 and who resigned in April citing stress. His comments at the time suggest that company would have been lacking effective leadership for some time.

Ware said: "To be honest I massively hit a wall a while ago and should have left last year. I have been under huge stress for the few years running three companies, commuting between Auckland, Wellington and Timaru while facing a challenging market situation and my health has gone downhill…

“I've loved running this company for the last two decades but the joy has gone. I haven't handled relationships well and the stress has taken a toll, so I'm heading to the farm to watch the grass grow."

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